Huckabee PAC in Trouble?
PoliticsDaily
Huck Pac has not filed any donor reports with the Federal Election Commission this year, so its current financial status is unknown. Year-end 2008 reports show Huck Pac had $80,089 in cash on hand and $62,293 in debts. So, it seems that the organization’s restructuring is a sign that Huckabee doesn’t have the fundraising ability to launch a new national campaign.
Huckabee’s daughter Sarah, the political action committee’s executive director, told Arkansas Business that “It’s an off-election year. A lot of times these things come in cycles, and you’re more than welcome to look at our FEC reports and make of that what you will.”
Huckabee hosts a radio show and Fox TV program and, according to his daughter, continues to raise money for Huck Pac to support Republican candidates.
The staff changes at Huck Pac, according to Arkansas Business, include longtime aide Wendy Dooley being laid off. Meanwhile, the Vertical Politics Institute, a think-tank Huckabee formed in 2008, has also undergone changes. Lauren Huckabee, the former governor’s daughter-in-law, has moved on from her role as VPI’s chief to assist the campaign of another Republican running for Congress, and VPI’s web address now redirects to Huckabee’s personal site.
Sarah Huckabee referred to all these changes as just “restructuring.” She also told the paper: “We’ve managed our resources and our team as frugally as possible and we like to be respectful of our donors and the faith they put in us when they give us money. So we’ve restructured our office, but we’re not going to stop any activities that we’ve been doing.”
Despite the disappearance of the VPI website, Sarah Huckabee said the think tank still exists but that “we’re trying to put a focus right now on Huck Pac. It’s a very important time for us to focus on candidate election right now. My dad’s extremely busy. He’s only got so much time and there’s very little of him to go around these days, so we’re trying to put all of our focus right now on Huck Pac.”
Huckabee himself will have to tell his supporters if things are as dire as they might appear, and whether he will continue to raise money for his future political career.
